


Fireheart

by Nariel



Series: Secrets of the Stars [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-13
Updated: 2017-05-13
Packaged: 2018-10-31 08:58:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10896021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nariel/pseuds/Nariel
Summary: Seldom are things always as they seem. Ideas and spin-offs from the Stars in the Silence timeline.Part 3: Mother’s Day Special. Her mind is silent for once. It hasn’t been for several months now, and it’s only now that Walburga has the slightest inkling of regret for her actions.





	Fireheart

Her mind is silent for once.

It hasn’t been for several months now, and it’s only now that Walburga has the slightest inkling of regret for her actions.

Not a lot, because this was for the good of her House, and also for her daughter.

Aquila will understand once she’s older, and once she’s in Hogwarts, Walburga’s certain that her worries will be put to rest.

**_Are you certain?_ **

If there’s the slightest of pause in her walk, no one but Walburga herself knows about it. After all, for all Diagon Alley is packed with the pre-Yuletide crowd, Walburga is a Black.

Even if the crowd has parted to let her walk through - _As they should,_ Walburga thinks - and even as she catches the eye of everyone close to her person, it’s not good enough an advantage to let them see her brief moment of weakness.

**_Are you certain?_ **

The voice taunts her again, and Walburga regrets just a bit more that she hadn’t been as careful as she could have been when using the Old Family Magicks.

Oh, she had been well aware of the potential backlash of using the Family Magicks, particularly when invoking the Oldest Spells, but she had taken the risk.

 _For better or for worst,_ Walburga decides as she continues walking forwards, uncaring of the smokeless flame circling her person. It’s a new addition to the voice, and slightly more distracting because Walburga can block out the voice with Occlumency for brief periods of time, but her eyes still occasionally stray towards the flame, despite her best efforts not to.

(She does not linger on the after-effects of blocking out the voice. Of splitting headaches and piercing words. This is for the good of her House. For the good of her family.

Walburga has endured much pain before, this is nothing new.

She does not linger. Much.)

 _Aim Inqirāḍ Shaṭr_ had taken more from her than she had thought it would, but the Spell had been successful.

She senses more than she hears Sirius turn to pull her youngest out of the way of a harried wizard, his aura spiking in agitation as he turns to glare at the offender, even as the hand holding her youngest up remains gentle, and slows her steps just slightly. Not enough to break the flow of traffic around her, but just enough to allow her children time to fall into place behind her as she enters Ollivanders.

While she is slightly annoyed at the delay, she doesn't blame them for being waylaid by human traffic. Her children haven’t mastered Aura Projection, one of the lesser known but relatively safe Family Magicks, and they won’t be able to for at least half a decade more, until their cores are strong enough to bear the taxing demands of such Spells.

Sirius had been lucky that _Ruqī Shallāl_ had been one of the newer Spells created and thus hadn’t required anything other than Magic in exchange.

Or perhaps it wasn’t luck that allowed her Heir to access the Family Magicks at such a young age.

(And to successfully cast a Composite Spell merging opposing elements of water and fire - if it had been any other circumstance, she would have been proud of Sirius.

But his actions had been both reckless and damaging to the House’s reputation, so of course there had to be consequences - how else was he to learn?

And then Aquila had stepped in.)

Either way, his actions, despite having created no end of trouble for Walburga, had all but cemented his position as Heir Black, regardless of his young age.

And Walburga isn’t the only one to realise this, even if her own children remain unaware of the magnitude of Sirius’ actions.

It's likely the reason why her eldest niece is trying to vie for the spot of the First Daughter.

By blood, Aquila has that right, but the title of First Daughter of the House could be contested and won through age, magic or, what her niece is aiming for, allegiance.

Perhaps, if she were younger Walburga would have been slightly impressed by her niece’s tactics, if they could be called that. But for all her magical prowess, Bellatrix’s attempts at politics are mediocre at best.

Oh, it would be enough for the Halfbloods and Mudbloods, but Pureblood politics? _Black_ politics? Those were a completely different matter.

Currently, her niece is nothing more than a shark in a sea of leviathans, and if she thinks she can take Aquila’s, Walburga’s daughter’s, bloodright from her… Well. Walburga will show her the extent of her reach.

Rough tides often hid even more devastating undercurrents. Walburga will help set the stage for Bellatrix’s eventual fall, but she’ll leave the strings and script to Aquila.

And her daughter _will_ deliver.

**_Are you certain? You sensed it, didn’t you? When your flame branded her skin and felt her core. You sensed that wrongness in her, don’t try to deny it._ **

_The Spell was successful. It has been dealt with,_ Walburga snipes back, diving deep into the inferno that is her Occulmency barriers and stands proud against Ollivander’s probing eyes.

The man will burn if he dares enter her mind, Walburga decides as she locks her gaze with his.

The smokeless flame comes to rest in between them, grinning despite the shackles draping its feline appearance.

The Spell was successful; there is nothing wrong with her daughter, she tells herself staring at the glowing seal on the chains. Walburga has made sure of it. And that is all that matters.

.

**_You ask for much with such a sacrifice, even with blood fairly given from both parties, it is not enough._ **

_Then take what is lacking from me, and fulfill your contract._

**_Are you certain?_ **

_Of course. Who do you take me for?_

**Author's Note:**

> Short Mother’s Day special, focusing on everyone’s favourite Mother-of-the-Year Walburga Black *coughnotcough*.
> 
> Also, this is canon-compliant to Stars and is Walburga’s POV during the first scene in chapter 15.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Please feel free to share your opinions and also what you’d like to see next :3
> 
> Happy Mother’s Day everybody!


End file.
